AboutOrchids

With beautiful, long-lasting blooms, orchids are overtaking traditional holiday plants like Poinsettias in popularity. Despite their reputation for being difficult, many commonly sold orchids are easy to grow, and can survive some neglect and abuse. Like Poinsettias, many people buy orchids in bloom, and throw them out when the flowers fade. But even when orchids are a disposable commodity, it helps to buy the right orchid for the conditions you can provide. With thousands of orchid varieties, there’s one to fit just about any holiday need. Here’s some orchid buying advice on top of this earlier post on orchid buying basics.

• For low light conditions common in homes and offices, try a Phal or a Paph. Both can keep their flowers for weeks or even months. Well-tended Phals may stay in bloom through the whole winter.
• For very bright light conditions, try a Cattleya, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, Oncidium, or Vanda.
• For cool or drafty rooms, try a Cymbidium, Masdevallia, or Odontoglossum. Some varieties of Dendrobium, Miltonia, and Paph can also grow in cool temperatures.
• For large, showy flowers that only need occasional watering, try a Cattleya.
• If it’s heading into winter where you live, many orchid varieties are dormant and won’t need much water. If you’re planning to keep the plant, slowly increase watering in spring.
• Young orchid plants may take years to flower, so buy blooming size, or mature, plants. They should have flowers or buds ready to open.
• Always provide high humidity for your orchid. Most home and office heating dries the air, which can make flowers wilt and drop quickly.

Explore posts in the same categories: Buying Tips, Misc

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Buying Tips, Misc.

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